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An Essex Wildlife Garden Update! |
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GemmaJF
Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Location: Essex Status: Offline Points: 4359 |
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I did think that Suz that if we did ever leave it might be better to dismantle the habitat myself and let the animals disperse. Would hope it never comes to it. There has been a temptation to move to somewhere with more land but that would be just to do it all over again on a larger scale. Think if the arable field at the back ever came up for sale, there would be nothing on earth that would get me out of this house!
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Suzy
Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1447 |
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We are pensioners so I think our days for expanding territory are gone. We have a large garden already. There is nowhere here to add on anyway. I would hope that if we had to leave it would be under circumstances where we had time to dismantle the wild areas, but you never know.
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Suz
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GemmaJF
Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Location: Essex Status: Offline Points: 4359 |
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Good day for young grass snakes under felts in the garden, counted five under one felt. As you all know they don't usually hang about long for pictures, but this one obliged.
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chubsta
Senior Member Joined: 26 Apr 2013 Location: Folkestone,Kent Status: Offline Points: 430 |
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If I saw one that colour there is no way I would think it a grass snake
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Suzy
Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1447 |
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Five Gemma, lucky you! I've not seen one here for a few years but I wondered if I might get some escapees as fairly new next but one neighbours are conducting a scorched earth policy it seems in their garden. Had a digger in and levelled lots, sawn down trees and bushes. Their predecessors were my friends and gardened in a similar way to me, with lots of wild areas. They put a pond in and had lots of slowies about the place. They had grass snakes occasionally too.
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Suz
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GemmaJF
Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Location: Essex Status: Offline Points: 4359 |
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I'm guessing we grew these in the compost Suz. We usually have them about, but never seen so many at once before. Seems a shame about your neighbour's garden, but as you say could bring in some refugees to a safer haven within your garden.
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GemmaJF
Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Location: Essex Status: Offline Points: 4359 |
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Think it is coming up to shed chubsta, 4 were very dark like this and one was a brilliant green. Though I've found plenty of young snakes under felt, sure I find more that are about to shed or have just fed. This fits with captive observations I made years back that grass snakes will generally spend longer and be more likely to seek artificial heat sources to speed up particular metabolic processes such as shedding and digestion.
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Tom Omlette
Senior Member Joined: 07 Nov 2013 Location: Stoke on Trent Status: Offline Points: 449 |
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so pleased all your efforts are paying off gemma. lovely to see.
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GemmaJF
Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Location: Essex Status: Offline Points: 4359 |
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Happy days now Tim, seems the less we do now the more we see. Easy then to forget all the hard work that really went into it! We took the plunge this year and have left the whole garden to re-wild. Been busy recording all the common wildflowers that nature has given us. Lots of yellow this year with creeping buttercup, dandelions, wild mustard, greater celandine and all plants provided free by nature.
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GemmaJF
Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Location: Essex Status: Offline Points: 4359 |
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Forgot to mention saw mating slow worms under Onduline today, first time I've observed that in the garden.
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